


It's Either Them, Or Me

by Ookami_Productions



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Aethas won't leave him alone, M/M, One-sided Aethas/Rommath for a while, Rommath has ptsd when it comes to Dalaran and Kael, Rommath hates kids, Rommath's hate towards Kirin Tor, Sha of Hatred, Somewhat angsty?, really slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-07-23 04:36:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20002432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ookami_Productions/pseuds/Ookami_Productions
Summary: Rommath has a pest who keeps declaring love to him, what's even worse is that one look at the guy makes him remember the time the Kirin Tor stood by and did nothing as blood elves were sent to Dalaran dungeons and almost murdered, were it not for Lady Vashj. Will he be able to get past that and give Aethas a chance, or will it never work out between them?





	1. The Beginning

The Architecture of Dalaran was not even close to the beauty of Silvermoon, yet it had its own charm and Rommath couldn’t help but call it his home. After all, the magic studied here was many levels above magic in any other place he had ever known. He had joined this city filled with mages some time ago together with the prince, and together they’ve studied magic and have even climbed towards the top of all mages.

One day, while he was walking around the city with Prince Kael’thas, shopping for some swords cause the prince wanted to get one enchanted and use it as his focus, Rommath suddenly felt something hug his legs. He stopped in his tracks and slowly glanced down at the bottom of his robes. Hugging his legs and looking up at him with one of the widest smiles, there was an elven child with reddish-brown hair. Without looking away from the child, he called out to the prince. “Prince Kael’thas… C-Can you come here for a second?” his voice stuttered. He didn’t want to touch this  _ thing _ . He disliked kids. They were just meddlesome, never listened to word or reason. He wanted it  _ gone _ .

“What is it Rommath? Are you still scared of children?”, the prince’s voice came, but Rommath didn’t want to deal with this teasing.

“I’m not  _ scared _ , I just  _ hate  _ them! Now will you  _ please _ move it away or do I have to”, Rommath asked, trying not to growl at the prince. No matter how much Kael’thas could piss him off sometimes, it didn’t change that this was his prince and he had to treat him with respect.

“Just don’t hurt him too much”, as he heard those words, in a millisecond, his eyes flared with a soft purplish glow and a blast of energy pushed the child off of him, holding him at bay. Looking at him, the child seemed to be hugging the barrier as if it was still Rommath himself.

“I  _ hate _ children.”, Rommath murmured as he walked faster after Kael’thas, with the kid just sort of there, following them 5 feet behind.

* * *

Rommath had done everything he ever could for Dalaran while also doing his best for Silvermoon itself. Him and Kael’thas were basically ambassadors of Silvermoon in Dalaran. He even became an archmage there, yet, when the blood elves were sentenced to death by some human commander after they did their best to help them as a part of Alliance resistance in Lordaeron, the Kirin Tor did nothing. The Kirin Tor just stood back, watched as the blood elves were shoved into the Dungeons of Dalaran after being sentenced to death.

He watched the faces of mages that taught him, the mages he helped a couple of times... and he couldn’t believe that they would listen to that human over him and Kael. As they sat in the prison cells of the city they so faithfully served, he swore to himself that he will  _ never _ again help this city. It could just rot in hell all he cares. From today onwards, he and the Kirin Tor are  _ sworn enemies _ .

* * *

If the betrayal of Kirin Tor didn’t wound him enough, the betrayal of Prince Kael’thas certainly did. Days after the fall of Kael’thas and the champions of Azeroth helping save the Sunwell, Rommath was simply shattered. He wasn’t sure whom to trust anymore. His loyalty laid with Silvermoon itself, but never again with just one man or anyone besides their city.

That is when he decided to get into politics, or more likely, to become an advisor to Lor’themar Theron, the man who was Regent-Lord during Prince Kael’thas’s trips to Outland and back and had stayed with the same title ever since. Rommath was wary at first, but the two had slowly grown closer. Great help for that was none other than Halduron Brightwing, the currently appointed Ranger-General of Silvermoon and the farstriders. With his help, Lor’themar had allowed him to stay as his aid. After all, the leader of the blood elves needed aid from both someone who understood magic and a well-off ranger to be able to make good decisions. On the other hand, the matriarch of the Blood knights didn’t seem interested in becoming an advisor. 

* * *

Day in and day out, the one thing Rommath had made sure to do was not to help Kirin Tor. Even during the Nexus War, when Kirin Tor sent Archmage Aethas to ask for their magi's help, he denied it. He stood his ground against the youngling. After all, he was too young to know of the betrayal, but most of those in Silvermoon remembered it well. None of them would trust the Kirin Tor enough to walk through the city without caution. 

Yet here he was now, amidst the walls of the city he thought he had long forgotten. There was nostalgia in the air, except… He wasn't here to sightsee. Kirin Tor had, once again, turned against the sin'dorei. Another human filled with power had decided to just purge the sin'dorei. Well, this time, he wasn't gonna sit in the dungeons. 

With a help of a couple of magi, he brought with himself, as well as one of the champions of the horde, The Grand Magister managed to find and free quite a number of sin’dorei citizens and bring them back to Silvermoon little by little. The final person he had to find was none other than Aethas Sunreaver. The young archmage was held hostage at the Violet Citadel, but he and the Champion managed to free him. The archmage was lucky that Rommath didn’t have time to point out his idiocy right now, but once they were all safe in Silvermoon, Aethas should expect to be  _ violently _ criticized.

* * *

In Silvermoon, they arrived in front of Lor'themar and the Divine bell, all three tired from their escape. 

"Aethas! you're alive", the Regent-Lord exclaimed. Rommath eyed the two, still trying to recover a bit from earlier. Aethas didn't seem as tired as him though. Was it cause he didn't use magic? Or was he more used to running? He didn't know. 

"Thanks to this hero and the Grand Magister's quick thinking, a few of us made it out of there. Many more have been sent to the Violet Hold." the archmage praised them, but Rommath didn't let it get to him. He still had a lesson to teach the young archmage. After all, it was his stupidity and blind trust that brought him and the Sunreavers back where the blood elves once were; the Dalaran dungeons. 

"Anar'alash denai! Will someone tell me WHAT is going on in Dalaran?", Lor'themar demanded and, as briefly as they could, they got him on track with what went down. This, of course, led to Lor'themar's declaration of war towards the Kirin Tor, and Jaina personally. 

"My lord,  _ you _ would make a great warchief", Rommath praised, to which Lor'themar only smirked. It was one of the first times Rommath had seen the Regent-Lord interested in being a warchief.

"It might come to that", he muttered, but Rommath was close enough to hear him, "Get me my blades. The next move is mine."

With that, Rommath looked back at Aethas whom, he noticed, was looking at him as well. "You, you're coming with me. We need someone to check on the state you're in. We'll need any help we can get in the upcoming fights", he spoke coldly as he headed towards the priests and blood knights of Silvermoon. If anyone can fix him up quick and easy, it'd be them. 

"Th-thank you", the boys voice came and Rommath stood in his tracks and turned towards him. 

"Understand this: I didn't do all this for  _ you _ . I did it cause the Regent-Lord asked me to. I would've left you rotting in the depths of Dalaran if it wasn't for him telling me to save as many as I could." Rommath knew his words might sting. In fact, he  _ wanted  _ them to sting. Aethas had chosen his allegiances. 

"I know, but I still felt some gratitude was in order. I understand that the Kirin Tor hurt you, but I'm no longer a part of them, so you don't need to treat me like an enemy", Aethas's voice was only angering Rommath more and more by the minute. He pushed him against the wall, glaring deep into his fel green eyes. 

"Listen here, no matter if you strip this regalia off this same moment, to me you're the same as them. You dared ask help of  _ us _ for  _ their  _ problems when we were already weak.  _ Them _ , who abandoned us, who watched as a meek  _ human,  _ who wasn't even a mage, declared us enemies,  _ traitors  _ even _. _ " Rommath was pissed. All the feelings from decades ago came swirling back. He was pissed, but he also felt betrayed. 

If there wasn't for Garithos, there would've been no need for the Naga to save them. They wouldn't have gone to Outland or drained other living beings of their mana. They would've been Quel'dorei. They would've had a Prince if not a king… 

_ Kael'thas wouldn't have betrayed them.  _

"Grand Magister?", the voice brought him back from his thoughts. In front of him stood an elf, an archmage who almost went through the same as he did decades ago. He stepped back, looking away from him, towards one of the lanterns that adorned the city streets. 

"Get out of my sight. Now." he said through his teeth. He knew his hands were clenching, one against the staff and the other was clenched into a fist. He wanted to punch Aethas, but he knew that won't make him feel better. But someone like Modera or Jaina? Oh, he would gladly punch one of them. Even multiple times. Killing them would please him. 

"Are you o--"

"I said  **NOW!** ", he almost growled as he darted his eyes back to Aethas's. His vision became tinted with a soft purple and he knew, he would blast this man away if he doesn't move. Thankfully, the archmage got the message and walked off. Fast. 

Once he was alone, Rommath slumped against the wall before concentrating the energy around himself and…  _ Poof!  _ He teleported himself to one of the more desolate areas he knew of. It was a peaceful field, almost silent, with only some bugs buzzing around and a couple of birds flying and cawing. He felt down to his knees and let out a loud scream. 

He needed to get this out of himself. Ever since the betrayal of the prince, Rommath began coming here to just scream his lungs out. In Silvermoon he was this calm, stoic persona, but here, here was  _ his  _ space. No one saw him here. No one heard him here. He was  _ alone _ , just like he liked it. 

* * *

During the days to follow, Rommath noticed that the archmage was watching him from a distance, but always keeping at least 10 feet distance from him

"What did you do to the poor kid, Rommath? You didn't hurt him, did you?", the cheery voice of the Ranger-General asked. Ugh, Rommath didn't need this  _ now.  _

"I told him to  _ leave me alone _ , something he clearly isn't doing" Rommath said as he tried his best not to glare at Aethas whom he  _ knew _ was not that far from him. 

"Oh come on, maybe he's mesmerized by your power and wants you as his mentor", the blonde continued and Rommath just rolled his eyes. 

"He's still wet behind his ears. I don't take apprentices who choose the Kirin Tor over their own heritage" Rommath spoke, trying to appear nonchalant. He had noticed that Aethas had remove the cursed regalia and tabard and began sporting clothes much more to Silvermoon fashion, but changing clothes doesn't change a man. 

"Oh come on, Rommath. You were once a part of the Kir-" 

"My allegiances were always with Silvermoon first, and them second. Don't you even try comparing my situation back then to his now, Halduron, or I swear, you will taste a firebolt from up close." Rommath glared at the farstrider who just laughed at that. Rommath had hoped that this had dropped the conversation, but then, in a swift motion before he could even react, he was swept off his feet and instinctively he reached up and held himself against, what he then realized was, Halduron. "What are you doing?", it was hard for him to stay calm, but luckily his collar was hiding half of his face. 

"Nothing out of the ordinary sweetcheeks~", with those words, Rommath watched as the ranger leaned closer, moving the collar off of his face. He closed his eyes and waited, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes to see Halduron smirking as he was looking somewhere into the distance behind him. 

"Halduron…", he called. And watched as the man turned back to look at him as they still stayed in this weird tango dip pose. 

"Oh, hey. I think I've rid you of your pest for now", Halduron said, looking proud of himself. Well, as much as Rommath appreciated that, there was still this whole thing yet to be taken care of. 

"Thank you. Now, do you want to finish what you've started or do you want me to beg for it or something?" Rommath knew he shouldn't ask, but he didn't care right now. Well, he wouldn't beg anyway. The Ranger-General seemed to be thinking it over. 

"Well, you're quite cute like this, but I feel that if I chose to have you beg, you'd break my kneecaps. So I choose the kiss", he said as he leaned down again. 

"Good choice", Rommath muttered just before their lips touched. There wasn't anything special about the kiss. Both of them were good kissers, fighting for dominance over the kiss as their tongues clashed and danced together. 

After a while, Halduron did manage to overpower him and proved to be much more dominant. Rommath couldn't say he minded this. In fact, it got him even more in the mood. He welcomed Halduron in as he felt his tongue explore, touch sensitive spots he forgot he had. The Grand Magister, after more than a decade, felt like completely submitting himself to someone else. 

The two would've probably continued their little  _ thing _ , maybe even took each other to the nearest inn, or better yet, their personal chambers, but suddenly there was a cough. The two slowly, shamelessly broke the kiss and turned to look towards the origin of the cough. There, maybe a couple of feet away from them, stood their Regent-Lord, the archmage, that they began this whole charade for, was standing close by as well. 

"If you two are done having fun, we might as well continue with our duties", as Lor'themar spoke, Halduron slowly picked both of them up, but instead of moving away from him right away, he stood behind him, wrapping his arms around the mage's waist. 

"We apologize, Regent-Lord. We'll make sure it doesn't happen again", he said before leaning close to Rommath's ear and whispering softly. "Meet me in my room later tonight if we're free and you want to continue this", as the words traversed into his ear, he felt a moist muscle drag along a small part of his ear, enough to get him weak in the knees. If the kiss didn't make him want to continue, this certainly did. The Ranger-General seemed much more skilled than the Grand Magister thought at first. 

"We apologize, Regent-Lord. We lost track of time", it took rommath a couple of seconds to get back to his old self. Halduron had taken the time to move only a few steps from Rommath. Rommath glanced at Aethas and wasn't sure what feelings he could read in those eyes. Was it  _ disgust _ ?  _ Shame _ ?  **_Jealousy_ ** ? He couldn't tell. 

* * *

The meeting didn't take long. All they discussed was their trip to the Isle of Thunder. At first, Lor'themar was thinking of leaving Rommath and Halduron, or at least one of them, in Silvermoon, but both talked him out of it. Aethas himself seemed relieved for some reason, but Rommath didn't pay it much attention. As they were about to part, Halduron came up from behind him and hugged him again. 

"Since we've finished early, how about we head straight to my place to continue?", the farstrider seemed to lower his voice, which certainly made Rommath more excited. 

"Sorry, handsome. I've got to pick up something from  _ my  _ room", he spoke as he rotated a bit in his arms to face him a bit more easily and patted his cheek lightly, "You can get everything ready and I'll be there before you even know it". Those words seemed to calm the ranger a bit as he moved away from the magus and headed his way. 

* * *

Leaving his chambers, Rommath was welcomed with an angry archmage. He didn't even want to ask how long the kid stood there. 

"What do you want?" he didn't need to have this last any longer than necessary. He wanted to go see what the Ranger-General had planned for the two of them. 

"Don't go there… I will do anything, there was no way he could treat you better than I would" there was slight desperation in his voice, but rommath didn't care. 

"And who do you think you are, saying stuff like that?" Rommath raised his brow looking at the archmage. He didn't want some Kirin Tor mutt to think they were close. He saved him because it was his duty, not his personal wish. 

"I love you. I've loved you for a long time. I became an archmage to be more like you"

"That's impossible. We haven't met till you came to ask help of the Regent-Lord. Just leave me be." Rommath pushed his way from Aethas as he moved towards where he knew the Ranger-General's chambers were. He didn't need love. He felt attracted to two people before, towards the prince he followed proudly and towards an archmage in Kirin Tor. He never confessed to either and was honestly glad he didn't. Both ended up betraying him. 

* * *

_ Knock knock.  _ He knocked softly on the door and didn't wait long before Halduron opened it. Rommath was surprised to see the male in a more casual wear instead of his usual farstrider gear. This way he actually looked fashionable. 

"I didn't think you could wear normal clothes, Ranger-General", Rommath commented, hiding a smirk behind his collar. The cloth hugged Halduron's body in the right way, showing off his muscles just perfectly. A smirk lazily grew on the ranger's face as he leaned against the door some. 

"Really? I'm not always dressed for work, yknow. Sometimes I dress to impress", the blonde looked somewhere over the grand Magister's shoulder before stepping to the side to let him in. "Come in, your little pup is watching us. He thinks he's hidden, but nothing escapes a farstrider", at his words Rommath just walked in. He didn't even want to pay attention to him right now. 

"I'd rather you weren't dressed at all right now", Rommath spoke, hoping the archmage heard him as well. Halduron slid his arm around Rommath's waist before closing the door. 

"That can be arranged", the blonde spoke as he pressed his own back against the door and pulled Rommath close, capturing his lips in a deep kiss. 

Their lips crashed before opening as the tongues began their fight for dominance anew. Though this time, Rommath was quicker to let Halduron dominate him. And to his pleasure, the Ranger-General delivered even more than he expected. As soon as the blonde got dominance in the kiss, he turned them over, pressing the magus against the wall. A soft chill ran down his spine as he felt the man push up against him, as the kiss kept going. They pulled back from the kiss after a little while to catch their breaths. 

"Could it be that the  _ Ice Queen of Silvermoon  _ was actually a submissive bottom this whole time?" The farstrider commented and Rommath couldn't stop himself from sending a glare at him. 

"Would you rather I domin-" as he began to speak, he felt a finger press to his lips. 

"Shh, I meant it in a good way. I'm sure I can dominate you to your heart's content." Rommath disliked how proud the other sounded, but at the same time, he was excited to see just what he had planned. 

In a swift swoop, Halduron picked Rommath up bridal style and carried him towards, what Rommath supposed was, the bedroom.

"Hmm? Are you trying to be romantic now?", he teased, but was soon, unceremoniously, thrown on the bed. 

"Nope, just didn't want to let your pup listen to us while I make you scream your lungs off in pleasure", easily Halduron removed the shirt he wore and then climbed on top of the Grand Magister, "Now, just relax and succumb to your pleasure". 

Rommath was speechless, he never expected the aloof Halduron to actually be like this, but then again, he didn't really mind it. 

The now shirtless elf climbed up on top of him and captured his lips in a short, yet lustful kiss. It made Rommath want more, but there was no way he'd ask of it. "Now, let's get this off of you", Halduron spoke as he began working his way with the robe. Rommath willingly helped him and soon enough it was off and tossed in the ground. The Ranger-General pulled back as he looked his body up and down and smirked. 

"Are you going to look or will you start touching?" the Grand Magister asked before cupping the other's face and pulled him in for a hungry kiss. Visiting Dalaran, and that stupid young archmage woke up memories he didn't want to remember. He wanted to forget all about it and this could be one of the good ways for it. 

The ranger didn't have any further comments as he broke the kiss but instead leaned down placing kisses down the mage's neck. Those soft tingly sensations were rather pleasant, but he wanted more. He was about to voice his dissatisfaction when he felt a sharp pain instead of the soft kisses. The blonde had bitten him, and damn was he enjoying it. It was just the treatment to get things off of his mind.

Soft sensations aroused from his sides as he felt the ranger's short nails scraping his sides. The bites continued as the Grand Magister felt his body arching more into the pleasure. He could get addicted to this more than he ever was to the arcane. 

"You're more into this than I thought…”, he heard the ranger spoke, but he decided to ignore it. He didn’t want to comment on anything right now. The teeth left his skin and his mouth was covered once again. Moments later he felt the other elf grind down against him. He couldn’t tell which one of them was more excited to get this on the road. “Turn over”, he heard a low growl as their kiss broke. Halduron pulled back from him, giving him enough space to do so.

Once Rommath was laying on his stomach, he felt the other’s teeth sinking into his neck once more, before kisses followed down his spine. The feeling was so weird yet so exciting that he caught himself arching into it. As the lips reached the lower of his back, the feeling stopped and soon after he could feel a pair of hands pulling his underwear down.

* * *

“Aww, you’re not gonna stay for after-sex cuddling?”, Rommath looked back at the naked elf laying on his side and watching him, a smirk on his face. He let out a sigh as he fixed his collar up properly, glad that he always wore it so high since the ranger left so many marks all over his neck.

“We both have jobs to get back to, Ranger-General. As much fun as this was, we must part our ways now”, Rommath spoke formally. This was just a way to relieve some stress.

“You were much cuter while begging underneath me~”, Halduron spoke and all Rommath could do is roll his eyes. The blonde elf walked up to the mage and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “If you ever need this again, you know where to find me.” Rommath just gave a nod at that before heading towards the door. He stopped as his hand grabbed the door handle and turned his head to look back at the male.

“If you mention any of this to anyone, I promise, you will taste what ‘Hellfire’ tastes like”, with that, he left and headed towards the Sunfury Spire. He had some business with the other magi concerning their studies. 


	2. Never Share a Kite With Somebody You Hate

Rommath wasn't one who liked long trips. Whenever he could, he'd opt-out for just a quick teleport to the location. Which is exactly why, when it came the time for the Elven leadership, Lor'themar, Halduron, and himself, to go to Pandaria as a line of defense against Lei Shen, without even giving them time to refuse, Rommath teleported the three of them and Aethas who just  _ had _ to come with. 

"Ugh, can't your portals ever land us softer? At this point, I'd think you were trying to hurt me", Halduron commented as they've arrived in the mystical lands of Pandaria. 

"I'm sorry, as a fire mage, the powers of pure arcane aren't my stronger ones", Rommath's voice didn't sound as apologetic as what he was saying did. Well, it's not like he cared that much. Glancing over at the Ranger-General, he saw a smirk on his face as he dusted himself off. He wanted to know just why he was smirking like this is all a part of the plan, but he wasn't going to. 

"I'm just glad we safely arrived, now stop bickering you two. You sound like an old human married couple", Lor'themar beckoned. The Grand Magister bowed softly as an apology and shot a soft glare at the Ranger-General. 

"My apologies. I’ve brought us to the Shrine of the Two Moons, where are we heading from here?”, Rommath asked as he looked around a bit. The Pandaren architecture was so different from theirs. It was beautiful, but he didn’t want to get attached to another city the way he did with Dalaran. Who knows if the Pandaren would decide to kick them out one day the way Kirin Tor mages did in the past. It wouldn't surprise him. 

"The mythical Isle of Thunder", the answer came from the youngest of them. Rommath didn't even want to bat an eye at him. "We can ask one of the locals to fly us as close as possible with their kites, the rest we can organize with portals and whatnot", Aethas explained simply. Rommath didn't like that he knew so much, but he could guess it was probably because he knew or guessed the Kirin Tor's plans. 

"Mhm, then we better make haste, if we want to set our base of operations before Jaina takes over the whole island with her mages", Lor'themar said as he headed towards the Pandaren minding the kites in the area. 

* * *

To save time, and cost, they got on kites in pairs. Being elves, they didn't weight as much as the other horde races, so it wasn't that big of a problem. Okay, maybe the goblins and the Forsaken weighted less, but one were tiny, the other were just skin and bones. Unlike them, the blood elves were just wary of their diets, and bodies. Just cause their allies looked like they wore nothing but loincloths made out of animal skins, didn't mean  _ they _ couldn't look noble and on point. 

Rommath had the misfortune of ending up on the same kite with Aethas. It's not that he didn't voice his feelings and thoughts, but the final word was Lor'themar's. Now here he was, crouching on top of a weird bamboo and cloth contraption that, he was sure, wasn't made to carry such weight on top of it. 

"Well, the trip might last for a while, so wouldn't it be better we… Talked to pass the time", he heard the voice from his side. No, he didn't think it'd be better if they spoke. He had nothing to say to a Kirin Tor mage. "Rommath, talk to me. I know you hate the Kirin Tor, but I'm no longer officially a part of them", the voice spoke again after a while. 

"First, that's Grand Magister Rommath, to you. And second, who's to say you won't go running back to them the moment you are invited? Are you saying that if Modera were to call you and offer you to return, you wouldn't say yes?", Rommath almost hissed at the younger man. He understood that the other did go through a similar thing as he did, but he didn't care. The younger mage seemed like one who'd return and be at their beck and call even though they almost killed him. Aethas was silent for a while before speaking. 

"Being in Dalaran would give the sin'dorei and the horde a good position. If we don't have people there, Alliance will always be one step ahead of us", those words only infuriated the Grand Magister more. Who did Aethas think he was to speak like this? He would actually hide his tail between his legs and go to the Kirin Tor? After  _ all,  _ they've done?  _ Disgusting.  _

"Did you not feel their betrayal yourself? They  _ imprisoned  _ you. They  _ bullied _ ,  _ attacked,  _ **_and_ ** _ hurt  _ many sin'dorei citizens. And for what reason? There being one who betrayed them and helped Garrosh.  _ They _ would've  **_killed_ ** you. Like they almost did us decades ago. Is that who you'd return to?", Rommath so wasn't dropping this. Did Aethas not know their history with Kirin Tor? The history that  _ repeated  _ itself. 

"They weren't gonna kill us. It was just gon-"  _ not gonna kill them? Ha!  _ Rommath stood straight up on the kite. 

"That's what they said last time, and if it wasn't for Lady Vashj, do you think we'd be here?" He stomped his foot, making the kite lose balance somewhat, but still, stay on its course. 

"I trust Archmage Modera! She helped me in the past so much", Aethas protested as he, too, stood up straight. He didn't seem to be letting go so easily today. 

"And you know who helped her? Helped all of Dalaran in their studies?  _ I  _ did!  _ I  _ was there any time they needed help with magic. I  _ lived  _ there. I had kids pester me there, but I didn't care, I loved the city… And then they threw us in the dungeons all cause of some human who just felt like we shouldn't be there anymore", all this standing up and arguing wasn't helping stabilize the kite again. It was swaying somewhat and slowly dropping in height. But Rommath couldn't be bothered by it. 

"Archmage Modera didn't do anythi-", Aethas tried defending, but Rommath cut him off. 

"Exactly. She didn't do  _ anything _ . She stood and watched as our people were taken to the dungeons. Did she do anything this time? I didn't think so", Rommath had stepped closer to Aethas. If he were a dog, he'd be growling and baring teeth at this point. The movement caused the kite to lose more balance and it slowly began crashing down. Before Rommath could even react, he felt the power of arcane gently lowering him to the ground instead. He looked over to Aethas who had the same magic around him. 

"That could've been dangerous," Aethas commented. Rommath didn't need his help, nor his sass nor whatever he was giving him right now. 

"Don't think I'd thank you for this. I've saved you, you helped me. We're even now.", Rommath said with a glare as he landed gently on his feet. He didn't want anything to do with Aethas but now they were stuck in some forest area of Pandaria with just the two of them and probably a lot of things trying to kill them. 

* * *

_ This was all Kirin Tor's fault!  _ Rommath was getting pretty annoyed at all these gooey-shadowy creatures popping out of nowhere around them. It would have been fine if they were neutral and just lived their life. But no! They had to attack them. He had to both save Aethas and be saved by him more times than he'd like to admit. 

"Ugh! What is with these things? They keep appearing out of nowhere", Rommath's voice was less snarky than usual. He was tired. They've been fighting these things non-stop since they've crashed. 

"I'd like to know that as well!" Aethas, on the other hand, seemed to have become the snarky one. It was kind of funny to watch. 

"They're called the  _ Sha _ . They are made of, and feed on, negative emotions. These particular ones seem to be ones of hatred", they heard a voice speak up. When they turned to look, one of the local Pandaren stood there. He carried a staff and was dressed like a monk. 

"Oh I wonder who might've caused those to appear, Grand Magister", Aethas's voice annoyed him now more than ever. 

"Kirin Tor", Rommath answered glaring at the younger elf. 

"You need to let go of all this hate, elf. Only like that will you be able to pass through our lands without summoning any and all the Sha.", the pandaren's voice was calm as he spoke. Rommath didn't need his lectures, he was fine as he was. Maybe the Kirin Tor could use the anti-hate lessons the next time they decide to eradicate blood elves from their city. 

* * *

_ Meanwhile elsewhere…  _

* * *

"Why did you say we need to save time and cost like this? I mean, it didn't change either whether we went on two or four kites. We still paid full price", Halduron asked, as he looked towards the Regent-Lord. The male turned to him with a smirk.

"Honestly, I wanted to get Rommath to be nicer towards Aethas. If my allies hate each other and don't want to work together, how can anything be done?", he explained, "So, I set them off together."

"Don't you think that they're gonna crash somewhere?", Halduron asked worriedly. Who knows what they could run into here. 

"Ranger-General, please. One is Silvermoon's Grand Magister, and the other  _ was  _ an archmage of Kirin Tor. What could go wrong?", Lor'themar asked before looking forward again. They should be coming close to their destination. 

* * *

_ Back to the magi…  _

* * *

"Okay, this is getting out of hand, how can there be so many of them?", Rommath was panting as he glared towards the Pandaren who, funnily enough, was just sitting on the side with his legs crossed. Was he making fun of the Silvermoon's Grand Magister? 

"I've told you, you need to let go of the hatred in your heart. If you don't there will be no end to them", the calmness of his voice was angering Rommath. He didn't want to stand here and be made fun of. 

"R-Grand Magister, please try and calm down. I feel like you getting angry is not helping our cause either", the archmage said, also panting. They were both getting tired of this constant fighting. 

"Well then this Panda can just leave and I will be less mad," he said glaring up at the panda as he blasted another sha away with a fireblast. 

"I am here to help you learn how to calm down", he spoke. Rommath angrily pointed his hand towards the panda as he began the incantation for his spell, a fire began forming slowly around the Pandaren. But, before he could release the spell and burn the panda to the crisp, he felt his face being cupped and a pair of wet lips against his own. 

The distraction caused him to lose the spell, the flame dissipating in the air. He could clearly see locks of red hair in front of his face. A few moments later, the other elf pulled back from the kiss, leaving Rommath stunned. It wasn't that the kiss was anything special, the Grand Magister shared a lot of kisses, especially with experienced guys, it was just that the other thought that  _ now _ of all times was good enough to do that. 

"Good, you're no longer going on a rampage", the younger elf said as he finished off the few remaining sha. Rommath just stared confused. Why did the kid, whom he was being nothing but mean to this whole time, kiss him? No, no, it couldn’t mean anything. Might just be a distraction or something. 

“Anyway, now that the Sha are gone, we need to get moving. Your other companions are waiting”, Rommath watched as the Pandaren brought three turtles of some kind and handed each of them one, “Unless you want to share this as well?”

“I’m good on my own”, Rommath said quickly as he climbed onto a seat that was put on top of the turtle. It looked and felt so weird. He preferred the hawkstriders after all.

“He isn’t quite a friendly person”, Aethas spoke to the panda and even chuckled. 

“I can be friendly”, Rommath retorted.

“Yeah? When? All you’ve done to me is shun me ever since we first met!”, Aethas said. Rommath could tell the other was hurt, but that wasn’t his problem.

“I’m quite friendly with the Ranger-General and Regent-Lord”, he said matter-of-factly.

“That’s business relationships!”, Aethas said to which Rommath just looked over at him with a raised brow.

“Do you think I go to personal chambers of people whom I have nothing but a business relationship with?”, he said sending a glare towards the elf. Aethas was silent, just the way he should be. “Now, if we’re done with meaningless banter, we can head on”, he said as he commanded his turtle ride to move forward in, what he hoped was, the right way.

"West is this way. If you head that way you'll only end up in more trouble", the Pandaren spoke. Rommath turned his turtle the way he pointed and kept going that way. He didn't need anyone's sass right now. 

* * *

"We should camp out here. You'll be with your companions first thing in the morning. Travel during the night is unsafe." the Pandaren spoke as he stopped. Rommath didn't want to stop, but he knew the other was right. They needed rest, especially if those things appeared again. 

"Alright. But do we even have tents and the like?", he asked as he looked around. There was certainly no buildings that they could camp out in and he himself never carried those things. Usually, he'd just summon them in. 

"I have two tents, so you two would have to share", the panda said as he got off of his turtle and began setting the camp. Aethas ran to him to help out. Rommath, on the other hand, stayed where he was. He didn't know anything about setting up a camp, so he wouldn't be much help. 

"You could help out as well, Grand Magister", Aethas's voice came and the dark-haired elf couldn't help but roll his eyes. 

"I'll help set up the fire", he said as he looked around. There was a number of fallen branches, but it's not like he'd even need it. With his knowledge of the arcane and fire, keeping up a flame would be easy even without anything for it to hold against.

* * *

As the time for bed had come around, Rommath seriously thought of just staying up all night. It'd be better than sharing a tent with a Kirin Tor dog. But, his body was tired, so he crawled into the tent at the end, but made sure to keep as much distance as he could from the other. He just wanted to sleep, get this day over with and keep traveling tomorrow, but no, Aethas didn't seem to want to let him. 

"Grand Magister, are you awake?", he didn't react, he didn't want to react.  _ Just go to sleep you idiot.  _ "I know you're awake, Rommath… You know, when I was a child, I met this really nice looking person in Dalaran. And, well, they pushed me away cause I was a kid. But I don't wanna give up on them… I really love them. They were my first love", ugh, Rommath was so not standing for this. He didn't care about this kid's love life. 

"Listen here,  _ kid _ . Go to sleep. I couldn't care less about some hot chick you saw in that Light awful city and fell in love with. You know why? Cause I don't care about you, I don't care about that city, I just want to sle-" 

"It was you", Rommath was stunned. Both by the fact that he just cut him off, and ‘cause of what he said. 

"Excuse me?", he asked raising his brow as he sat up. He couldn't even pretend to sleep at this. 

"The person I fell for is you. I mean I might've stalked you everywhere, but also after the blood elves were kind of purged and all, I studied every single book you wrote. I wanted to know more about you, be closer to you, but the next time we met you were just plain mean to me", Aethas looked like a sad puppy, but Rommath didn't care. He wasn't looking for love, he didn't need it. After all, in this world, he can only trust himself. Then he realized what the other had said. 

"You studied the books I wrote?", he said confused. Last he checked no one was able to crack his arcane lock on them. 

"Yeah. It's what helped me reach the status of an Archmage and become one of the council of Six even though I'm rather young, for an elf", Aethas seemed proud of himself, but Rommath still couldn't believe it. He took out one of his recent study notes from his bag and set it in front of Aethas. 

"Open it!", he ordered, "If you really studied from my notes, this would be an easy task for you". Heh, like hell it would be. If there was one thing Rommath was proud of, it was his personally created barrier lock when it came to each of his books. And on top of that, each had a different combination and a wrong combination could result in an explosion that could kill anyone. 

Aethas looked at the book for a while and at first, Rommath thought he was gonna deny it, but then he spoke. "A-Are you sure? Do I get to read your noted in it afterward as well?", the grand Magister was really confused at this. The  _ kid _ even had some sparks in his eyes and looked like a, well, an excited child being given candy. 

"Yeah, sure. If you can open it you can read the contents of it" he said waving his hand dismissively. He will just have to remember to pay back the poor Pandaren for the destroyed tent. 

"Don't go back on your word then", Rommath sat back, readying his barrier as he watched the other take a deep breath. Aethas sat up properly as he placed the book in front of him. His usually fel green eyes lit up with a bit of red and purple. He slowly opened the book and the blank pages flared up as a soft purplish mist rose up from them. As the mist rose, one by one countless arcane runes started forming in it and then just gently floating around. 

The seriousness on Aethas's face, for the first time, made him look grown up in Rommath's eyes. This wasn't the kid whom he made fun of earlier… no, no way. He watched as the elf in front of him picked rune after rune, placing them in the correct order and then, as the magic circle was complete, the red-haired male put his hand on the circle and guided it back down to the pages while voicing out the incantation. The circle flared as it neared the pages before it sucked the mist back down, revealing to the young elf countless and countless of Rommath's handwriting and even imagery. 

Aethas looked like a puppy who was just praised and given a treat as he picked up the book and began reading it. Rommath was left just staring, confused. The guy wasn't joking, he really cracked his code. "H-how?", the older elf didn't care that he stuttered. He needed answers. 

"I told you that I've followed you for a while, and after that, I read what you wrote", Aethas spoke as he set the book down and turned towards Rommath, "I know more about you than you think". 

"That's insane. Even if you knew about me, how could you crack my spell? Countless people have tried in the past!", Rommath wasn't letting it go. He watched as Aethas moved towards him, crawling on all fours due to the tent's height. 

"Well, I might tell you my secret, but… What's in it for me, Grand Magister?", Rommath knew this sort of blackmail. He rolled his eyes at it. He wanted to deny him, but at the same time, Aethas was the first mage, no, the first person who managed to break his lock. 

He reached his hand up to Aethas's face and gently slid it down his cheek and neck. "I am sure I can give you something of equal or bigger value", he spoke as he leaned upwards toward the other. With a kiss or two, a touch here and there and the kid should be satisfied, right. 

"Mm, Yes you can", the younger elf seemed to buy it, but then, instead of lips, Rommath felt a finger touch his lips, "Except it's not a one night fling I want. Go on a date with me. After our date has gone well, I will tell you just how I did it". Rommath wasn't sure if to be pissed or impressed. The kid played him well, but even if that was the case, he wasn't gonna let it pass as easily. 

"But for a date, you'd have to wait until we're back in Silvermoon, wouldn't you rather get a taste of what you desire?", Rommath asked before moving Aethas's finger away and bringing him in for a proper kiss this time. It lasted for a while, the grand Magister even used tongue to make sure the younger elf's knees gave in. He expected to have the other begging for it once he opened his eyes, but instead, he got a surprise. 

The red-haired elf seemed fine, unaffected by the kiss. "Well, goodnight to you too, Rommath. Can't wait for our date", he said before moving over to his side of the tent. The Grand Magister was pissed. He laid back down trying to sleep. He hated that kid, he hated him a lot. 

* * *

In the middle of the night, Rommath felt something weird touching him. He quickly chanted and activated a spell, trapping whoever it was in an arcane bubble. He expected it to be Aethas, but when he turned to look who it was, he came face to face with one of those little  _ sha _ things. Though it didn't seem like one of the blobby ones, it was like one of the bigger ones only… Scaled-down. It looked… cute. 

"You're a sha of hatred, aren't you?", he asked as he looked and inspected it. He wanted to do some tests on it, see what it could do, how it'll act. The Sha just hissed at him a bit. The Grand Magister smirked as he took out a necklace he had in his bag and held it up. "I hope this works", he said more to himself than the sha. With a bit of resistance, he managed to get the floating ball with the Sha into the amulet and seconds later the amulet started giving off a faint, smoky, dark aura. He smirked to himself and slid it back into the bag. Now at least he had a new thing to test and investigate once he returns to his chambers. 


End file.
